The Wolf of Wall Street

Working on Wall Street as a stock broker or investor can be a dream to many people. Just the thought of becoming extremely rich and living a lavish lifestyle gives me shivers down my spine. The Wolf of Wall Street is a movie released in 2013 that featured mega star Leonardo DiCaprio, who will make you feel your teeth grinding to dust. 

In this film, the middle-class main character Jordan Belfort attempted but failed to establish himself on Wall Street in a more customary way. He worked in a blue chip firm, offering instructions and service to his customers on the different stocks that could be bought. However, the market crash of 1987 got him laid off. Under this failure, he did not give up but instead reinvented himself on Long Island by taking over a penny stock studio and gave it a old money name: Stratton Oakmont. Belfort’s business turned out to be a huge success, employing over 1000 stock brokers and associated with stock issues adding up to more than $1 billion dollars! But no one knew the ugly side of Belfort’s business. His firm specialized in “pump and dump” operations: misleading information to customers to purchase worthless stocks with inflated prices. Belfort’s customers did not make huge profits like they were informed by their stock brokers, but instead lost their money.  After a few years living under a flamboyant lifestyle, Belfort was charged with money laundering and securities fraud and spent two years in federal prison, ordered to pay back $110 million to victims he swindled. 

There are basically two most important characters in this film: Jordan Belfort and his right hand man Donnie Azoff. Donnie is a weighty wiseass who quits his job after one conversation with the elite Belfort, joins his business, and helps him launder money. To an extent, Donnie can be considered the “life changer” of Belfort as he was the one that introduced Belfort to drugs which made him almost transform him to a psychopath. 

If you like comedy, crime, and films based on true stories, then The Wolf of Wall Street is definitely for you! The high entertainment in Belfort’s life, from wealth to corruption, won’t make you bored. However, this film isn’t for anyone, particularly for those that don’t have a strong tolerance to scenes of swearing or drugs.